Category: 2022

ArmInfo. Moscow is seeking parity in its relations with Yerevan and Baku. Evidence thereof is the Declaration on Allied Relations recently signed by Russia and  Azerbaijan, Russian political scientist Andrey Areshev said in an  interview with ArmInfo. 

The declaration was signed in Moscow on February 22. Some of its 44  points deal with the bilateral military cooperation.  

“I see the motive behind the signed document, namely, Russia’s desire  to maintain equally close and mutually beneficial relations with both  Armenia and Azerbaijan. And the practically identical documents on  Russian-Armenian alliance and now on Russian-Azerbaijani alliance  form the necessary legal basis for that. And the declaration signed  in Moscow enables Russia to successfully maintain parity in its  military and technical cooperation with both the states as well,” he  said. 

According to Mr Areshev, Russia will seek to make Azerbaijan  increasingly dependent by supplying spare parts for the weapons  Azerbaijan once purchased from it and by ensuring regular  maintenance. On the other hand, by actively and consistently  upgrading Armenia’s armed forces, Russia will continue its own policy  of maintaining parity between the two parties to the Nagorno-Karabakh  conflict over the last to decades. 

In the context of the willingness for peace stated by Armenia’s  ruling force, Mr Areshev does not expect Yerevan to express its  discontent with the Russian-Azerbaijani relations reaching a new  level. On the other hand, at lower levels negative opinions can and  will be voiced. The expert is sure that Baku coordinated the signing  of the Azerbaijan-Russian declaration with Ankara.

In this context, Mr Areshev highlights the importance of the  declaration for Azerbaijan as an element of balance with its close  ties with Turkey. Since the Shushi Declaration was signed the need  for Baku to diversify its relations with Turkey in the context of its  relations with the other centers of power, in particular with Russia,  has become increasingly urgent. And the current political turbulence  in the South Caucasus and Black Sea region only corroborates it.

ArmInfo.The Court of General Jurisdiction of the city of Yerevan partially satisfied the claim of  former Chairman of the Constitutional Court Hrayr Tovmasyan against  RA Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.

Thus, the capital court ordered Nikol Pashinyan to refute statements  containing slander against Judge Hrayr Tovmasyan. “The court ordered  Pashinyan, within five working days after the entry into force of the  court decision, to publish a publication on the Facebook page  entitled “Refutation of slanderous information regarding Hrayr  Tovmasyan” with the following content: “I, Nikol Pashinyan, refute my  statement that 

Hrayr Tovmasyan has been offering me his services since May 2018.” By  court decision, if it is impossible to post the text of the  refutation on Facebook, to oblige Nikol Pashinyan to issue a  refutation with at least 5,000 (five thousand) copies through any  print newspaper published in the Republic within five working days  after the entry into force of the decision.  At the same time, by  another decision, the court rejected Tovmasyan’s claim that Pashinyan  should ask for forgiveness.  

The decision was made on February 17 of this year. It will enter into  force one month after its publication if it has not been appealed. An  appeal against the decision may be filed within one month from the  date of its publication.  

It should be noted that on February 25, at a press conference, Nikol  Pashinyan stated that Hrayr Tovmasyan offered him his services, which  he rejected.  Tovmasyan, in turn, called this statement a  fabrication, threatening to sue Pashinyan for libel if he does not  provide “at least one reliable fact.” After this demand, the Prime  Minister of Armenia posted on his Facebook page a photo of a pen,  which, as he wrote, was presented to him by the chairman of the  Constitutional Court Hrayr Tovmasyan. “I thought for a long time  whether to throw it away or not. In the end, I decided to leave it as  evidence of the strangest servility,” the prime minister wrote at the  beginning of his post. This post caused a resonance in the Armenian  society and became the subject of wide discussions and jokes.  

On February 21, 2020, Hrayr Tovmasyan’s representative Artur  Hovhannisyan sued Nikol Pashinyan, demanding an apology for the  offensive language and publishing a refutation of the slanderous  information. 

ArmInfo. Yerevan has not yet made a decision to participate in the diplomatic forum to be held in Turkey’s Antalya on March 11-13, Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat  Mirzoyan said on March 2 during a government hour in parliament.

“There is no decision yet. I hope you will agree that events in the  world are developing very rapidly, the world is changing every  second. When the deadlines approach, we will make a decision,” he  said.

Mirzoyan positively assessed the results of the second meeting of the  Special Representatives of Armenia and Turkey – Vice-Speaker of the  National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia Ruben Rubinyan and  former Ambassador to the United States Serdar Kilic held on 24  February in Vienna. According to the minister, the parties confirmed  that the negotiation process is proceeding without preconditions, and  the ultimate goal is the normalization of relations and the opening  of the border. “The discussion was much more specific than at the  first meeting. But at the same time, we all understand that it is  difficult to expect tangible steps even after the second meeting,” he  said. There is still no decision on the date and place of the new  meeting of the Special Representatives.

Earlier, answering a question about the possible participation of  Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan in a diplomatic forum in  Antalya, Turkey, Mirzoyan noted that the issue of participation of  the Prime Minister was not discussed and is not being discussed. “An  invitation was sent to me and Mr. Ruben Rubinyan, there really is no  decision, the decision will also largely depend on the results of the  meeting in Vienna on February 24,” Mirzoyan said.

ArmInfo.Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, speaking in parliament, said that the heads of the parliamentary opposition are traitors and robbers.

The head of government made such statements after Hripsime  Stambulyan, a member of the Hayastan opposition faction, asked the  Cabinet of Ministers how they were going to mitigate the economic  risks associated with the Russian-Ukrainian aggravation, in  particular, with the supply of wheat from the Russian Federation.  “What steps are you going to take, since you surrendered about 75% of  the territories of Artsakh to the enemy, and left reserves of wheat  on the enemy’s territory? Or, again, you will say that you are the  number one responsible, but not the number one guilty,” noted the  parliamentarian.

“I would not have approached this rostrum if your question had not  once again contained the assertion that we left 75% of Artsakh to the  enemy. I officially demand that the opposition factions publicly  express their position – after all, for them, Kubatly is Kubatly or  Sanasar (the Armenian name of the settlement located in the security  zone, ed. note). At the same time, right now I will speak out on this  matter, if this is Sanasar, and not Kubatly, then why are your  leaders (Robert Kocharyan and Serzh Sargsyan, ed. note) have been  negotiating the surrender of these territories to Azerbaijan for 20  years. And they did it publicly. In the Madrid principles adopted by  you, in paragraph one, it was written about the return of seven  regions to Azerbaijan. Now tell me, traitors, why did you make these  territories, the Motherland a subject of bargaining? To engage in  wheat business? Well, make an official statement,” Pashinyan said.  According to him, if the opposition factions officially recognize  Kubatly/Sanasar as Armenian land, then their leaders should be  prosecuted for treason. He also urged to stop shedding “crocodile  tears”, stating that his opponents are robbers.

Stambulyan, in response, urged the head of the executive body not to  raise his tone when talking with a representative of the legislature,  once again recalling her question about the supply of wheat. Then  head of the Hayastan faction Seyran Ohanyan intervened in the  controversyPashinyan left the rostrum of the parliament with the  words “Know your limits!”

After these statements acting NA Speaker Hakob Arshakyan deprived  several opposition MPs of the right to vote, mutual accusations  began. This is how the next governmental hour in the National  Assembly ended.